Coffee

Poem from March 2023

A flush to my mouth like a fuse, then
Smooth like butter,
Emollient like silk and satin
Sumptuous like velvet.

An ancient woman, stirring
Cacao and chestnuts on Her warm hearth,

Pouring, flowing through my mouth like
drifting aerial silks through tumbling air,
This is like the earth,
A color rich like the soil.

The surface like old wood, the kind
In your treasured coffee table,
Well varnished, well cherished, holding
histories within its rings of gold.

Never unchanging, nature’s milk and nectar shifts
And upwells, unveiling
A hazy sky of stars in
Unimaginable shades of walnut and

Cinnamon ochre brown.

Husky like a cello sonata,
Cozy like sinking into
A plush duvet or my father’s arms,

It’s bliss sipped from a simple cup of clay,

Carried from the tender potter’s hand to yours.

The breastmilk of the jungle at your lips if you
Should ever want its sweet kiss.